Community Corner: Artists of River Town commissions public art piece

OROVILLE — And the eagle flies. Actually, this newest piece of public art sits atop a pedestal in the hall of the Centennial Cultural Center just outside the Artist of River Town's gallery. With raised wings and claws at the ready, the life-size stainless steel bald eagle looks poised to swoop down upon unsuspecting bass, shad or chinook salmon in nearby Feather River.

"In the beginning I thought it was going to look nice. When I saw it finished, it was spectacular. It blew me away. Because of the high polish of the stainless steel when you look at it from different sides, you get different feelings. It speaks to you," said Bob Marciniak, program specialist for the city of Oroville.

The "eagle project," as it's come to be known, started in 2007 when Freda Flint, founder and then president of Artists of River Town, wanted to develop a "stronger connection between ART and the city." Artists of River Town, or ART, is a nonprofit artists' cooperative.

Flint approached the Supplement Benefits Fund Committee with a request for two grants to commission a pair of bird sculptures. The committee granted Artists of River Town one for $5,000.

"When I first came up with this, my idea was to commission two sculptures of birds but the project evolved and changed as we got into it," said Flint, now a board member.

The first artist commissioned was unable to do the project, said Flint, due "to other work, farm and art obligations." That's when Flint approached ART member Steve Nielsen.

An Oroville native, Nielsen's work graces the KOA campground at Feather Falls Casino and the freeway underpass at Highway 70 and Montgomery Street. The campground is home to a few of Nielsen's 3-foot long stainless steel salmon and seven others at twice the length, that "swim" along the walls of the underpass. At Feather River Nature Center, eight of Nielsen's sculptures decorate the trail. Among them are silhouettes of a grizzly bear with a three-dimensional salmon in its mouth, three Canadian geese, an eagle, vulture, buck, coyote and Native American girl.

Adding dimension

Nielsen accepted the ART commission. As he began research on his true-to-life representation of the bird, the project concept shifted.

"I researched for four months and did five hand drawings before settling on the one I liked and there was just no way to do it as two-D silhouette," said Nielsen.

Working in Auto CAD, Nielsen designed the bird's more than 4,000 feathers that range in size from 1/16-inch to 1/4-inch in width and 1/4-inch to 2-inch in length. Norcal Laser cut 2,600 of the feathers with a "ball point pen tip size laser," Nielsen said. He cut the eagle's feet and 1,400 of its smallest feathers, the "thickness of a dime," by hand. Each piece including the individual feathers were hand bent, beveled, sanded and polished to a mirror-like finish before being tig welded to the body.

By the time it was all said and done, Nielsen had spent 2,480 hours creating the 150-pound statue.?

"Little did I know how much work it was going to be — cutting, sanding, beveling, polishing — to make. This was the first 3-D sculpture I ever did. I was learning as I went and pushing my limits. The bird is amazing," said Nielsen.

Artists of River Town accepted the sculpture in May and will present it to the city by the fall for placement in its permanent location, which is still being decided.

Marciniak said the city wants to place it in a public location but considering its value, which Nielsen estimates between $250,000 and $500,000, the location must be secure.

"The city is ecstatic about the project and wants it to where people can see it but it's almost too beautiful and valuable to place outside. I'm sure the Arts Commission will hold a hearing to get suggestions from the public about where they'd like to see it," he said.

In the meantime, the eagle will remain at Centennial Cultural Center where ART members are happy to have it and the public may see it during gallery hours.

"I love it, absolutely love it. It's beautiful, more beautiful than I could have imagined. Seeing it finished is like having a baby, somewhere in your being you just don't want to give it away. So we're happy to watch over it until the city can decide on a permanent home for it," said Flint.

All about ART

Established in 2004, Artists of River Town is a nonprofit cooperative of 50 Oroville artists who share their love of all things art with each other and the public.

"I just thought it would be a good idea to have an art group. There are so many talented artists in the area and, at that time, there was no gallery in town to show their work," said founder Freda Flint.

Posting fliers and placing newspaper ads to see who would be interested, Flint said she was pleased when 40 artists showed up at a meeting and all were in favor of opening a gallery.

Through the years, Artists of River Town's gallery has been in several downtown locations but recently found what Flint hopes is a permanent home, in Centennial Cultural Center on Arlin Rhine Drive.

Each month the gallery hosts an exhibit spotlighting five to seven of its members.

"The difference between the ART co-op and other galleries is that the artists' work doesn't get juried in. All members get an equal opportunity to show their work," said Flint.

Members of the co-op work in nearly every medium and range in skill level from beginner to professional, including Dave Tamori and Marilyn St. Clair.

In addition to sharing their own, the artists are also committed to providing art experiences for children.

Each March, the co-op puts on a free Kids Art Day. Children may visit 15 art project and educational stations hosted by members. Volunteers from Friends of the Library join in the fun, giving free books to attendees. More than 100 children attend with "their parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts and uncles," said Flint.

"We get returning kids every year so we get to know their names and watch them grow. It's really great," said Flint.

Also popular with kids is ART's Make A Mother's Day Card booth during Feather Fiesta days. The co-op provides free supplies for youngsters to make a card for their moms.

The art guild also participates in the annual October Museum Row event and Oroville High School's Diversity Day.

Members serve as gallery docents and teach classes and workshops that are open to the public.